Closed The Snake Among Owls

[Luxen Silverback II]

The Semester had ended with Luxen making some progress in his magical knowledge but none when it came to his father's location. He had spent frequent nights looking over the letter he had received the day his Hogwarts Acceptance letter had arrived. He had also poured over many of the books in the library aside from the restricted section. Luxen was sure there was a useful book back there but as a first year it would be impossible to get approval to peruse the shelves. The thought of asking a Professor for permission was simply out of the question. If only he had an invisibility cloak or an older student that was willing to assist him.

It didn't matter much at the moment as Luxen found himself in the Owlery looking at all of the birds. He hadn't received a single letter since arriving and while he didn't expect his worthless parents to figure out wizarding mail, he had thought his mysterious contact would reach out to him. He didn't like the Owlery much and didn't expect that he would visit the place very often throughout the next seven years. It was extremely dirty and smelled terrible.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Amarantha Styx was getting used to wondering around on her own, without her twin. It had taken some time. They went from adjoining rooms to many, many floors separating them. Worst of all, she still wasn’t sure of the other Hufflepuff girls. She did spend some time with Roxas Mckenna, one of the triplets. She had gotten to know a couple of people that normally surrounded her brother. They were all male though, so it wouldn’t kill her to find a female friend. Though, her cousins were her first friends. She would never replace them.

The Hufflepuff made her way to the Owlery to send a letter to her father. A weekly tradition she started. While she never received anything in return except for gifts, it was still nice letting him know what she was up to. Mari looked around the room, while rubbing her nose from the scent. She found another boy there, a Slytherin. She got her letter out and then approached one of the smaller owls, one she had used at least three times or more. “Send this to daddy, okay?” Mari strapped the letter to its leg, have the small bird a treat and sent it on its way.

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen watched as the girl attached a letter to one of the owls. She looked comfortable doing this meaning that she either came from a wizarding family or she had simply done this a lot by now. Either way Luxen felt a flash of anger that made him want to leave the Owlery at once. As the girl's owl flew out the window several more began fluttering in causing a stir among some of the ones that had been resting or eating. Three of them began flying very close to Luxen which had caught him off guard.

He felt panic as the three large barn owls came swooping closer towards him. Instinctively Luxen pulled out his wand and began waving wildly. Several sparks shot out from the end hitting the walls and leaving behind a few scorch marks. The Owls all quickly fluttered away from Luxen who was trying to calm himself down. "Stupid birds!" He shouted angrily. It was good that he didn't receive or send any letters since he never wanted to be back in the Owlery again.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari's eyes widened as the owls started to make a ruckus, and even worse, the boy seemed to be mad about it. He even had his wand out and everything! Mari tried to get some of the owls shushed, but they either settled or rushed out of the window. She frowned as she cocked her head to the side. "I guess either you don't come from a magical background, or just don't send letters." Mari was basically raised on it, but she didn't have an owl of her own. After all, she lived with her grandparents. Her father just came and went as he pleased. Mari didn't really care one way or another, but liked to pretend that she had a good father figure in her life. Her mother would have never allowed such a man to do that to his kids, but she died giving birth to her and her brother. "I can teach you how, if you like," offered Mari.

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

The commotion began to settle down as the girl made a comment about his lack of experience with owls. He scolded himself for revealing such ignorance, though he questioned if he would still like Owls even if he had grown up with his real parents. He knew that the girl wasn't from his house but he wasn't sure he'd seen her in any of his classes. It didn't help that Luxen rarely paid much attention to the other students in his classes. "Nobody that I want to send a letter to" Luxen replied in a low voice.

Anger flashed again as she offered to show him how to send a letter. It was insulting to think of another student 'teaching' him how to do something as simple as tie a letter to the foot of a bird. He wanted to yell at the girl to mind her own business but something nagged at him. The truth of the matter was that he was lacking in experience when it came to the post owls. He didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of someone that mattered. "How can you stand them?" Luxen merely asked as he walked towards the girl.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari laughed softly, “That is what my brother says. He never sends letters to anyone.” She could see why though. Her twin was trained harshly to become the next leader of their massive family. He didn’t have the pleasure of socializing with cousins and kids as much as Mari had. In a way, she was grateful, and in a way, she didn’t like it. After all, her twin was the one that she clung to most. Mari had a hard time reading people, so she didn’t notice how the Slytherin was angry at her offer. When asked how she could stand them, Mari sighed. She walked over to one and started to stroke its head. “I like animals in general. Owls are one of my favorites. I like to think of them as assassins at night. They hunt down smaller, weaker rodents. Plus, when it is dark, you can hear them, but very hard to see them. Like ninjas.” Mari smiled affectionately at the birds, though her views were a little twisted, she was unaware of it. “By the way, I am Amarantha. Amarantha Styx, but feel free to call me Mari or Amara. I answer to both.”

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen was actually surprised by the girl's answer, it was actually well thought out rather than something stupid like 'they're pretty'. Regardless of House, Luxen could always appreciate intelligent conversation. "I'm more drawn to snakes myself. Capable of infiltrating tight spots, silent, deadly, and able to shed their skin. Apparently it's a family thing and yet no parseltongues" Luxen said lightly. He took a moment to let her explanation on Owls sink in and started to look at them in a different light until the girl introduced herself.

"Luxen Silverback the Second" Luxen said very slowly as he looked the girl over once more. He was sure that she wasn't in Slytherin and yet she shared the same last name as Luxen's favorite Professor. "Styx, so your a pureblood that's not in Slytherin House?" Luxen suddenly asked as his interest in Owls suddenly vanished. He hadn't really bothered finding out too much about Kalif Styx II and had been unaware he had a sister. She seemed nothing like Kalif at first glance Luxen thought as he wondered if she might be a cousin rather than sibling.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Amarantha nodded, though unsure if that was a common thing with Slytherins. It could be though. Mari shrugged her shoulders lightly, "I can see that. One of my cousins has that gift, and she loved snakes." Mari didn't know much about Aleyha at all. Just that she was deadly, especially when she was pregnant. That never happened after her twins though. She heard his name, and recognized it from classes. Although, when he mentioned that she was a Styx, a pureblood one, not in Slytherin, Mari cocked her head slightly. She didn't know if he was serious on that one or not. "Um, of course. My brother is in Slytherin. Kalif. We are twins. But, I have had aunts and uncles in all houses. My great uncle was in Hufflepuff, and expelled for attempted murder. We don't exactly have one personality that puts us into one house alone." Her grandfather's father, the former ruler Asparuh, never bothered with Hogwarts. They all used to go to Durmstrang prior to expanding.

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen listened as Amara spoke about her family and how they had several members that were in different houses. "Expelled for attempted murder?" Luxen said with one eyebrow raised. In the muggle world people were always trying to hide the dark spots in their family trees. It was interesting to be around someone that was actually open about it, almost refreshing. Luxen didn't know much about his own family except that those on his father's side were all in Slytherin House.

"Honestly, everyone in my family that I know about were all in Slytherin and from what I can see alot of family members end up in the same houses" Luxen said casually as he thought about some of the other students in their year. "What brought you up here anyways? I know you obviously were sending a letter but why?" He asked figuring that she wouldn't need to correspond with anyone if she actually had family members all around her.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari bit her lip when Luxen repeated what she said about attempted murder. She already spilled it, so she better explain it. "Chaos Zhefarovich, that was his name, kind of was a supremacist. So, he tried to set a student on fire. The other student was a muggle-born. Professor Styx dragged him to the headmistress' office and they snapped his wand. He was a third year." Mari shrugged her shoulders, not mentioning that Chaos was actually Professor Styx's brother. She didn't think it would matter either way. All she knew was that they as a family, if they pursued that path, should be smarter about it.

Mari did doubt some of his words. If he knew that his family were in Slytherin, then shouldn't he have much more experience about sending letters, rather than saying no one to send them to? Mari quickly decided that it must be different in other families. "I have about... one in Gryffindor, two in Hufflepuff, five in Ravenclaw, and seven in Slytherin, currently." And that was including both sides of the family. Mari smiled somewhat, "Sending a letter to my dad. He wasn't around much, but I let him know how my brother and I are doing. He never writes back, just sends presents."

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"so much family Luxen muttered more to himself than to Amara, he wasn't sure if he would have like having a big family since he'd grown up an only child. The muggle couple that had raised him had never had children of their own which had always been a relief to Luxen. For the most part he had grown up and enjoyed being an only child, it made things easier for him he figured. Amara had confined in him something that was probably obvious for other witches and wizards. "I only have this" Luxen said as he pulled out the letter he had received before first term.

"Just a letter from someone I don't know, telling me the muggles who raised me had been lying my entire life and that my parents were a witch and wizard who had left me with them shortly after birth. I wasn't supposed to have lived in the muggle world" Luxen said with a tone of bitterness in his voice.

Luxen would probably never understand the family situation that Amara came from but did understand having a parent that you wanted to be around and instead couldn't. Luxen didn't consider himself 'abandoned' by his parents as the letter had said it had been for his protection. He didn't understand what the letter meant but had to accept it as the truth. The letter in his hand was the only thing he had of his true life that had been robbed from him.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari heard his comment, and nodded, even if he wasn't talking to her. She had so much family, she could barely remember it all. She paid more attention to her mother's side than her father's. Mari smiled a little bit as Luxen pulled out a letter that he had, stating that was something that someone sent him, revealing the truth of his birth. But, Mari was a little astounded that someone would abandon their baby to a whole new world. Then, he was forced into another new world. "That really sucks. I mean, being abandoned... Then thrust into a new world that you should have been in the whole time. That is so horrible." Mari was glad that her family would never do that. They would die if they abandoned one of their kids. They were very strict about keeping family together.

"Did the muggles treat you okay? Even after the whole thing was revealed? And, do you know who or where your parents are?" Mari felt that she might have been asking too many questions, but she was actually concerned for the boy. "Well, don't mind the questions if it is too personal. Just never heard of that happening ever." The whole thing was sad though. Mari didn't want to take pity, since she felt that as a Slytherin, it might offend him. She had experience with her Slytherin relatives being super prideful.

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"I wasn't abandoned" Luxen snapped as his hand tightened around his letter slightly. "The letter I received only speaks about my father's side of the family. My father was studying dark magic and left me with the muggles to be safe from something" Luxen explained. "The grandfather I'm named after apparently died under mysterious circumstances so I have no reason to believe the threat isn't real" Luxen added, neglecting to mentioned that the letter also stated his grandfather was acting mad shortly before his demise. Though he himself did not know of the rumors that years ago after his death, Luxen Silverback appeared throughout Bleak Street and had been known to torture children.

"Muggles are muggles, they were made to raise me as there own so of course I was and continue to be treated well. The fact that they were so easily manipulated shows they are no better than animals at the end of the day" Luxen said casually. Their weakness had cost him eleven years of knowing who he truly was and he would never forgive them for that. "I don't mind answering questions since I honestly have nothing to hide" Luxen lied with a slight smile. There were plenty of things he kept secrete from others. "I might come from an unconventional background but it only drives me more to succeed" Luxen said with confidence.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari raised her eyebrows as he snapped at her. She muttered in Bulgarian, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck...” Mari knew for a fact that there weren’t many people here with Bulgarian background, so she knew that her words would be safe. Parents left the child behind, despite the reasoning, was still abandonment. Her whole family practiced dark magic, so she wasn’t sure why someone would ever just drop a child off to muggles. After all, if they came around the family, they often perished before they could even say ‘I do’ at the alter. That was just the way of her family. Though if this first year needed to be protected, she wondered what sort of enemies did his family make. Since she wasn’t familiar with that surname, she knew it wasn’t hers.

“Protection or not, there are homes for magical children here. Seems unnecessarily cruel to leave the care of a magical child with a being so inexperienced. Glad I’ve never met one,” Mari retorted, her prejudice side showing immensely. Even if he had something to hide, she wouldn’t care. Her family had so many secrets, even if she studied for the rest of her life, she would only know half. Then again, since he came from such an awful background, she figured that he would have nothing to hide. “You want to succeed, in what?” Amarantha questioned, since she thought that with the Slytherin coming from the muggle world, what would he know about success in the magical world?

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"I've been reading about the Ministry of Magic" Luxen said casually. Reading had been all he'd done in his free time since he'd arrived at Hogwarts. His first semester hadn't been exactly for making friends but he had interacted with a few of the other students from time to time. For the most part he didn't enjoy those interactions but he found himself enjoying Amara's company at the moment. "I'm looking into working for the Department of Mysteries, the Auror Office, and eventually becoming Minister for Magic" Luxen explained.

All three would require excellent grades and he was determined to get those grades. Despite wanting to know more about his family, Luxen had been disappointed with the occupation of his lineage. His father simply looked into Dark Magic and his Grandfather had been a shopkeeper. It was not a path Luxen particularly wanted to follow. "The Wizarding World needs someone in power that can keep the Muggles away from our kind, the Americans had it right when they strictly kept muggles and wizards apart".

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari would be lying if she said that she wasn’t impressed with his ambitions. That truly made him a Slytherin. The Hufflepuff nodded along, and even agreed with his point of view. Muggles should be kept out of the wizarding world at all costs. But, his background could cause a problem. Mari smiled at Luxen, as she was reminded of her own people that she hung out with. But, she still wanted to keep her distance. After all, she was a little nervous alone without someone she knew with her, such as Rai, Roxas, Riku, Sawyer, Kalif or Jett. “You might want to be careful on your wording though. I think the majority of the people now are very progressive. Lie like the other politicians I guess.”

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"I wouldn't lie" Luxen said slyly to the girl. It wasn't as though he hadn't seen the type of politics the muggles used when they ran their campaigns and crude as it was, he wasn't above using some of them to achieve his goals. "Instead of catering to the Progressive crowds, I have time to slowly build distrust and anger in regards to muggle-kind. Slowly work to change the mindset of the wizarding world at large and my background make me the perfect wizard for the job" Luxen said almost triumphantly. "I'm a wizard that has parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents that were witches and wizards and yet I've spent most of my life living among them" Luxen explained. Right now he lacked the knowledge to make his way in wizarding politics but time was still on his side. "If we change our views then we weaken our position. If the progressives call the shots than we need to become stronger and louder until they are forced to join the muggle vermin they love" Luxen declared.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

This boy had big dreams, and it was a little shocking for her. Mari didn’t have a clue what she wanted to do, even though her future could be set if she sat on her arse all day and night. But, one thing did bug her. “How do you know your magical roots go back that far? Did the letter mention every single grandparent and great-grandparent?” Mari questioned. She did keep the impressed look on her face though. She doubted that other first years had that ambition in them. This Styx was liking the idea though. “You paint a very nice future. I do hope you can achieve it. I really do. “

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

It wasn't often that Luxen felt the desire to tell the truth. Typically it only came out as a last resort if it wasn't part of some plan he had thought up. Every once in a while however it did pop up. "The letter only describes a paternal family tree but all of magic blood and it doesn't appear that they would've married muggles, I'm sure of it" He confessed as he placed the letter back into his pocket. It had always been a source of knowledge that was to be treasured and yet now was proof of what it lacked. When it came down to his future goals.

"I will do everything in my power to make my dream a reality, it may take time but that's why I plan to spend part of the next seven years building the framework" Luxen said as his brain began formulating ideas. The owls were beginning to return and one decided to fly close over Luxen's head, perhaps as some sort of revenge. Luxen had not seen it coming and involuntarily flinched in the progress "Stupid bird" Luxen said coldly as he felt a strong desire to stun the thing out the window. He was sure he wasn't going to like owls anytime in the near future.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

“So, theoretically, your mother could have muggles in her family, or even muggle-born. If you want to raise awareness, you might want to prove your lineage first,” Mari shrugged her shoulders. Just one side of the family was not enough. Her family had been magical for many generations, maternal and paternal. He did have the next seven years to figure it out, as well as plan his dream. Mari herself could never imagine attending the same school as a future minister for magic. It would be interesting. Mari did notice that he seemed to enjoy a lot about himself and his dreams. When he called an owl stupid since it flew near his head, Mari let out a couple of giggles. “To be fair, your head was in the flying space. If you are charismatic enough, they will listen to what you tell them. If you can get owls to do that, maybe people would be the next step.”

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"I have enough magical blood" Luxen snipped as Amari talked about lineage. Only Purebloods would care about how many witches and wizards one had in their family. Luxen personally didn't care, as long as they were a witch or wizard than they were a potential ally against the muggles. He knew there were other creatures that threatened wizard kind however none of them compared to them. He thought about her comment about getting the owls to listen to him. He loathed the idea and rolled his eyes to match before opening them widely and given off a great smile and saying brightly "Alright then little birdies, why don't you come down here". He wanted to throw up having to pretend to be nice to these parasites with wings.

 

[Amarantha Styx]

Mari giggled as Luxen snapped at her. "Sounds like someone's feathers are a little ruffled," Mari teased. And it was even funnier when he tried to coax the owls to him. That was the wrong way to do it. The Hufflepuff broke out into a series of laughs, since even she could tell that what he was doing was totally fake. It was not suiting of him, and she didn't even know him that well. "You can seriously stop that now. You look really foolish. Maybe try with an animal that you don't loathe with a passion. Slytherin... I am going to guess, the ever so cliche snake. Or, even better, a mouse." Mari brushed her blonde hair over her ear. "But, I've done what I wanted to do. Now, I am going to fly off." She was tempted to throw some feed on him so that the birds would flock, but Mari decided to be a little nicer.

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

"Actually I like spiders" Luxen replied. He thought about her suggestion for a moment before being caught off guard that she was about to leave. "Maybe we can talk again sometime" Luxen found himself saying. He did want to get to know the Styx family better after recent encounters with them and Amari seemed to be the one within the family Luxen enjoyed talking too. He found himself being slightly annoyed at the thought but smirked since it was often he actually enjoyed talking to another person.